Alright fam, strap in—because this one’s part cautionary tale, part banger, and 100% pure crypto drama.
Meet Jonathan Mann, a musician who turned digital pixels into gold—only to watch it all vanish faster than a meme coin rugpull. You might know him as the “Song a Day” guy. He’s been writing, singing, and shipping catchy croons every day for over 15 years. But in 2021-2022, he stepped into the NFT arena and, my dude, he didn’t just dip a toe in—he cannonballed.
He made $3 freakin’ million minting and selling his daily ditties as NFTs.
Three. Million. Dollars.
That’s more than just making it. That’s moonwalking on the blockchain. That’s proof-of-hustle at its finest. Mann was an instant legend—one of the few artists who actually cracked the Web3 creator code. Forget Spotify pennies—this was Web3 royalties, built different.
But here’s the twist: our man didn’t diamond-hand that ETH. He kept most of his earnings in crypto. 🫠
Now pause for a second. Close your eyes. Picture the moment ETH hit $4K. That was the top. And Mann? He was sitting comfy. But what comes after the top, fam? That’s right — gravity.
ETH tumbled. Then tumbled again. Then just kept on tumbling. You know the drill. Combine that with the taxman coming at him like a liquidation cascade, and before you could say “WAGMI,” it was all… gone.
Poof.
To rub a little salt in the wound: Mann owed taxes based on the dollar value of his NFT gains at the time he earned them—not the value after ETH took a nosedive. That’s the Web2 tax code trying to decode a Web3 world. Never ends well.
But here’s where Mann earns his stripes as a true crypto OG.
Instead of rage-quitting and deleting his wallets, Mann did what he does best—he wrote a song about it. A brutally honest, painfully catchy tune that unpacks the full rollercoaster: the high of the sale, the tax confusion, the market crash, and the gut-punch of watching $3M swirl down into digital vapor.
You could call it crypto catharsis. You could call it tax-hop. I call it straight alpha wrapped in melody.
Because here’s the lesson, and it hits hard: Making money in crypto is only half the game. Keeping it? That’s where it gets real. You gotta manage your bag, fam. Diversify. Exit liquidity isn’t just a meme—it’s your life raft.
And never—ever—forget to account for Uncle Sam. He doesn’t care if your JPEGs are down 90%. He wants his cut paid in fiat. No exceptions.
But shoutout to Jonathan for keeping it real and turning his L into art. That takes character. That’s the Web3 spirit. We build, we fall, we sing—and then we build again.
Now who’s next?
Let’s get this bread.
– Jake Gagain
